Movicel launches LTE in Cabinda 45 days ahead of schedule

Angolan mobile operator Movicel has announced the commercial launch of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the oil-producing Cabinda province, providing mobile broadband services with a downlink speed of up to 100Mbps. Movicel had previously announced it would deploy the first commercial LTE FDD 1800MHz network in Africa by the end of May 2012, but it was launched 45 days ahead of schedule on 14 April, its technology partner Huawei reported in a press release. Under a plan to expand the advanced mobile broadband service across the entire country within three years, Movicel intends to roll out LTE coverage to major Angolan cities this year.